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Pollyanna
If we choose to hide the light,
and bring about a quickened night,
no one else can ease our plight
as darkness limits heart and sight.
Yet take a lesson from the sun
that is not hidden from anyone
for more than a short time before
a crack appears beside her door.
What hides her light moves on and then
light is restored as it has been.
So find that brightness at your core.
Perpetual darkness is a bore.
The prompt today was “Eclipse.“
jdbphoto
Off the Path
I’ve always been a wanderer with no course firmly set.
The purpose of my journey is not established yet.
When my meandering’s over, perhaps it will be clear.
I cannot tell where I’ll be then. For now I’m merely here.
The prompt word today is “Sidewalk.”
Ah, finally, after one and a half hours of sleep the night before I left, a good seven hours of sleep! I’m at my friends Dianne and Andy’s fabulous farmhouse on Prince Edward Island after seventeen hours of traveling yesterday. I hear them stirring downstairs and it is two hours later here. I know their grandbaby is due to come any minute now, so since the prompt word today is “Melody,” I’m going to fall back on three early posts I’ve done about music. If you’d like, please refer to one or all three and forgive me for shirking my duty for one day. My favorite is this afternoon partially spent sharing old melodies with friends:
https://judydykstrabrown.com/2015/05/27/small-reunion/
Here are two other melodic posts from the past that I found during a quick search:
https://judydykstrabrown.com/2015/10/07/story-songs/
https://judydykstrabrown.com/2015/07/24/the-beautiful-children-of-mexico/
Fierce
When first he turned up on their lawn,
he might have been the Devil’s spawn.
He hissed and sputtered––showed tooth and claw––
fierce growls emitting from his widespread maw.
They feared they might be scratched or bitten,
yet took a chance ––and tamed the kitten!
(I think you’ll want to click on the below photos to enlarge them. You’ve seen some of them before, but worth reviewing imho.)
prompt word today was “Fierce.”
jdbphoto
Vice Detection
Don’t you have to love the fellow
with ice cream on his diet Jell-O?
And the friend with heart of gold
who likes her painkiller freshly rolled,
or that occasional slip of tongue
that tells us how her husband’s hung?
This little “fuck,” that little “damn,”
the door that’s pulled closed with a slam––
the flaw that nearly escapes detection
that proves that no one is perfection?
The truth is, that though friends revere us,
faults are what really endear us.
Although piety is nice,
I’ll take my goodness spiced with vice!
The prompt word today is “Vice.”
Expert
I used to be plucky, I used to be pert.
I used to pass muster in shorts or a skirt.
But lately my pert parts have just seemed to shift,
and various parts are in need of a lift.
Big tops are my saviors. Caftans are my friends––
obscuring my excesses, shielding my bends.
Back in my plucky days, I was a flirt,
but seduction is over now I’m an ex-pert!
The prompt today was “Expert.”
jdbphoto
Cheated
You are the one we’d love to beat.
We train, we strain, we sweat. We cheat.
Anything to win the heat
and gain the glory of your defeat.
You are so handsome, fit and neat.
Sure of hand and swift of feet,
with fame and glory, you are replete—
the hero of each match and meet.
You are not boastful, do not bleat
your successes down every street.
You are humble and discreet.
You do not replay and repeat
each mile covered. Nor do you greet
those you’ve defeated when we meet
with prideful leer or smile cloying—
but still, we find your fame annoying.
You win each medal, then repeat
year after year at every meet.
Your well-toned muscles, hair like wheat,
make you every lady’s treat––
propel you to the winner’s seat,
your win made obvious and concrete
while those below complain and cuss.
Could you not leave some fame for us???
The prompt today was “Cheat.”
Lack of Direction
What am I doing here sitting on the street
looking like a vagrant to everyone I greet?
I know this is the day. I put it in my book.
Also on my laptop. I have another look.
9 a.m. on Saturday. I do not have it wrong.
I drove like a madman. The way it was too long.
My older dog just wouldn’t eat, my alarm didn’t work.
I rushed like crazy to be prompt. Didn’t want to be a jerk.
Yet when I got here on the dot, the salon was shut tight.
I sat down on the steps to contemplate my plight.
It’s been awhile since I have had a haircut here.
A month or two, or perhaps more. Perhaps it’s been a year!
I do not have the number to ask her what is wrong.
But wait! It’s on my laptop that I have brought along.
I prop it on my lap and open up the lid.
I rifle through my purse to find where my phone has hid.
I find my phone list and I dial, hear it ring and ring––
but just my luck my hairdresser must not hear the thing.
I leave a message but I fear I’ve made a big mistake.
Her name’s no longer even on the door, for heaven’s sake!
She hasn’t changed her phone for it worked for the appointment,
but when it comes to keeping it, I fear a disappointment.
Then from the corner of my eye, I see a woman waving.
It see her face and raise myself, slowly, from the paving.
She’s moved her shop across the street and down the block a bit.
And when she peeks outside, she sees the place I chose to sit.
She waves me in and now my hair is washed, conditioned, snipped.
I sit with toenails soaking, soon to be detipped.
So even though a big mistake started out my day,
it seems somehow that once again, good fortune found a way!
(And, best news of all, Edith’s Salon has the best wifi connection! I got this entire blog finished while I was there. The photo depicts what a perfect office spot this turned out to be!)
jdbphoto
Isn’t it Obvious?
Isn’t it obvious she dyes her hair?
A color like that is really so rare
that all of the passersby simply must stare.
And look at that bust line and that derriere!
Her skin like a peach, her curves like a pear––
Not an inch of flab on her and no wear-and-tear.
It can’t all be natural. Wouldn’t be fair.
She looks lovely in clothes and she looks better bare.
She looks great as she is, no need for repair.
The contrast is more than a woman can bear.
Though to others I maintain I really don’t care,
each time I see her it’s like a nightmare.
I look in the mirror and just can’t compare.
No facial hair has she. No need for Nair.
Her face never wrinkles, not here and not there.
Her makeup? No smudges. Her nails never tear.
Her clothes never look a tad worse for the wear.
Bags under her eyes? There have never been. Ne’er!
She looks perfect in public. The same in her lair.
And her consort’s the same. They’re the ultimate pair.
Except, isn’t it obvious, she dyes her hair????
It must be obvious by now that the daily prompt was the word “obvious.”
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 